The Shattered Ring

In the service of the Conference of Worlds

The Zvitter Consortium

The Zwitter Consortium is a corporate based expansionist meritocracy, named after it’s home system which it controls completely. The society is made up of a collection of corporations that compete with each other as well as other interstellar societies. Their level of technology is the envy of all save the Heoroti. ZC outposts, research centres and trading stations can be found throughout the known cluster, and they are always open for business.

Zvitter divisions

A Day in the Life…

My personal AI wakes me up at 07.00hrs, exactly when I wake up every day. Its name is Steffi, a name automatically generated for optimal working cohesion from comparing its functionality to my online personality profile. I review the days schedule on my Sensorium HUD as I am manoeuvred into a combined diagnostic suite and shower unit. Although all of the essential nutrients are fed to me intravenously, I am lucky enough to be able regularly afford imported meals, so today I enjoy a traditional Sekothai breakfast.

Yesterday I finally got the promotion I had been working towards for over a year now, and I am eager to get acquainted with the new role. Now I am in charge of coordinating the team of Lichtschranke overseers in the Embryo Maturation facility. I will be commanding my former workmates, so I am a little worried that they will resent my being promoted over themselves. Steffi notices my anxiety immediately releases a personalised cocktail of calming neurochemicals and activates a reassuring orientation tutorial that plays in the background of my Sensorium.

Before i can begin work i need to go to the company’s med-bay to get some new task-optimised hardware and software installed. It’s a necessary delay, as without these upgrades I will not be able to fully interface with the facilities they have at my new level. Still, I am frustrated, as this will consume 3.12 whole work-hours. At least the company is paying for the surgery.

I later emerge from the recuperation pod refreshed and eager get to the labs. My biofeedback register tells me I should be in some discomfort, but thankfully Steffi has taken care of it. Really, I’d be lost without her.

On the way to the maturation facility I answer an alert vidcall from our security manager. One of the worst possible events in our society is a staff strike, and one has happened on the first day of my new job. We are currently at a crucial stage in the development of this batch of embryos, and without constant monitoring the entire generation might be voided. The workers could not have picked a worse time, which was no doubt a deliberate attempt to panic us.

There is nothing for it but to order a total worker recall. We cannot stand for disobedience from our labour force; our company has too great a responsibility for that. Besides, in striking they are now in breach of their contracts and by law will be summarily deported without pay. From my car I remotely access the facilities private netspace to directly organise the roundup of the workers via the security mech’s.

After arriving I go straight to my new office, and I am delighted to find that Steffi has thoughtfully programmed the smartwalls to display some of my favourite working decorations. I exchange virtual greetings with my colleagues and launch into a video conference with the heads of staff. Steffi has already drafted the necessary worker requisition forms to replace the strikers, which I approve and send off to the sister company, who will in turn deliver us new workers later in the day. Perhaps it is time to buy a second personal AI to help with my increased workload?